Gladys Mae West, GPS, and the Invisible Infrastructure Behind Every Precise Measurement
Gladys Mae West, GPS, and the Invisible Infrastructure Behind Every Precise Measurement
Most of us take GPS for granted.
We expect our phones to know exactly where we are.
We expect drones to map land down to centimeters.
We expect coordinates to just work.
What we rarely see are the people—and decades of quiet, rigorous science—behind that certainty.
One of those people was Gladys West.
A mathematician whose work laid the foundation for GPS as we know it today, Gladys West spent her career solving one of the hardest problems in geospatial science: accurately modeling the shape of the Earth.
Without her work, GPS wouldn’t exist in its modern form.
Who Gladys West Was
Gladys West was a mathematician at the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center beginning in the 1950s—a time when both computers and opportunities for women, especially Black women, were scarce.
Her work focused on geodesy: understanding the Earth’s shape, gravitational field, and how to represent it mathematically.
Using early computers and satellite data, she helped develop increasingly precise models of the Earth—models that later became essential to satellite-based positioning systems.
GPS didn’t suddenly “appear” in the 1990s.
It was built on decades of math, patience, and precision.
Gladys West was one of the people who made that possible.
Why GPS Accuracy Is Harder Than It Looks
Knowing where something is sounds simple—until you try to do it precisely.
The Earth isn’t a perfect sphere.
Satellite signals aren’t perfect.
Time itself has to be corrected for relativity.
Every accurate coordinate depends on:
- Reliable satellite data
- Precise Earth models
- Careful correction of tiny errors that compound over distance
When you’re off by a meter, it might not matter.
When you’re off by a centimeter, it matters a lot.
Surveying, construction, engineering, and mapping all depend on this invisible infrastructure of accuracy.
The Line from Gladys West to Modern Surveying
At InTerra, we think about this lineage, how did we get to where we are today?
Our work—building systems for survey-grade drone mapping—depends entirely on the foundation laid by pioneers like Gladys West.
Every Ground Control Point.
Every GNSS correction.
Every sub-centimeter result.
All of it traces back to the same fundamental question she worked on:
How do we know exactly where we are on Earth?
We don’t see GPS as “just a feature.”
We see it as scientific inheritance.
Why This Matters Now
As drones, automation, and AI reshape how we measure the world, precision is becoming more—not less—important.
The more advanced our tools become, the more they rely on:
- Trustworthy reference systems
- Verifiable accuracy
- Proven geospatial science
That’s why honoring people like Gladys West matters.
Not just because she deserves recognition—but because accuracy has a history.
Gladys West didn’t build GPS for recognition.
She built it because the math mattered.
Dr. Gladys West passed away on January 17, 2026, at the age of 95. She is one of the hidden figures of our technical world, whose contributions shaped systems used every day. While her name may not be widely known outside GPS circles, her work continues to quietly support nearly every precise measurement made today.
Today, every time a survey closes accurately, a drone map aligns perfectly, or a coordinate holds up in the real world, her work is still there—quietly doing its job.
We’re grateful for that legacy.
And we’re committed to carrying it forward with the same respect for precision.
